Why Does DSK Have Trouble At Orgies?

The PR Verdict: “F” an outright fail for Dominque and his misguided PR statements.

The fortunes of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn aren’t improving. Yesterday he was taken into custody for questioning over allegations of a prostitution ring. Things just keep on getting worse for DSK.

French and Belgian police have been questioning prostitutes who said they had sex with DSK during 2010 and 2011 as part of an organised call-girl ring at various locations in Washington and Paris. The specificity of the leaked details are sending alarm signals to DSK’s defence team.

Strauss-Kahn’s PR took a turn for the worse when his lawyer, during a radio interview, seemed to inadvertently confirm his client was routinely attending orgies. Digging his client’s grave while theoretically defending him, his lawyer said, “He could easily not have known, because as you can imagine, at these kinds of parties you’re not always dressed, and I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman.”

The PR Verdict: “F” an outright fail for Dominque and his misguided PR statements. On the other hand, the comment is so wildly out-of-line it generates a peculiar type of begrudging admiration.

While clever PR this time around is unlikely to help this most desperate of cases, a word of advice to his lawyer is needed. In moments like this, a better PR tactic would be to say that the client was drinking heavily, took prescription drugs and doesn’t remember the night. Volunteering to the media that your client attends orgies but has trouble identifying who is who at the orgy, is not the sort of personal weakness that generates sympathy. ..Yes…Really.

What is Your PR Verdict?

This is a truly terrible PR angle. DSK has a high creepiness quotient to begin with and suggesting he can’t tell who’s a whore when everyone’s naked only makes him seem more icky. I doubt that Christine Lagarde is a regular orgy-goer. The IMF is well rid of him.